Every bottle that enters a Club Ava Devine shipment has been poured, sniffed, argued over, and re-poured by our eleven-person panel of Masters of Wine and Advanced Sommeliers — held to a single standard before it ever leaves Healdsburg.
“The panel exists because I am tired of being told a wine is important by someone who has not paid for it. Every estate we work with is paid up front, in full, before a single bottle is opened. We taste blind. We taste twice. If we cannot agree on a bottle in three pours, the bottle does not ship — and the winemaker hears why, in writing.”
Eleve Masters of Wine and Advanced Sommeliers, each appointed for a specific region of expertise. Ava chairs; the other ten are organized into four regional desks and a library vertical.
Advanced Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers · Founder, Club Ava Devine
Founded the club in 2014 with Marcello Conti after a decade on the floor at The French Laundry. Tastes every allocation personally and breaks every tied vote.
Read Ava's full bioMaster of Wine · Co-founder
Joined Ava in 2014. Leads the Left Bank bench and the library vertical for classed-growth Bordeaux back to 1998.
Master of Wine · Head of European Desk
Trained in Beaune. Gates every Côte d'Or submission and personally signs off on grower-Champagne allocations.
Advanced Sommelier
Born in Siena. Reviews every Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, and Etna Bianco submitted, with a soft spot for under-the-radar Barbaresco producers.
The remaining seven panelists — covering the Rhône, Spain, Australia, Oregon, library verticals, and the off-menu trade desk — are listed in the full masthead.
Every quarter, estates, importers, and member referrals submit wines for consideration. The panel's job is to be unimpressed. Below is the protocol — published in full because every member is entitled to know what passed, and what did not.
Any estate, importer, or member may submit. The concierge desk verifies provenance, storage history, and lab analysis before a bottle is opened. Counterfeits and re-conditioned cork are rejected at the door.
Bottles are decanted into ISO glasses, bagged in black foil, and poured under standardized temperature. Three regional panelists score independently on a 20-point rubric. Fewer than 14 points ends the bottle's candidacy.
Bottles that advance are re-poured the following week before the entire panel. Discussion is recorded. A two-thirds majority is required to proceed; unanimity is required to claim an allocation slot.
Across the last eight quarters, 6.2% of submissions have cleared both pours. Those bottles are priced at a 38% average discount to comparable retail auction, allocated to members by tenure, and shipped same-week from one of five regional hubs.
Average critic score across wines shipped to members over the last 24 months.
Michelin-starred restaurants that rely on the panel as their off-menu supplier.
Average member tenure — more than double the 1.9-year wine-club industry median.
Of roughly 2,400 wines submitted each quarter earn a place in a member shipment.
“Ava's panel is the only off-menu supplier I trust without re-tasting. If the bottle carries the Club Ava Devine slip, it has cleared a more rigorous bench than most of the wines on my own list.”
The same gate that approves a member shipment approves a trade allocation. Open a trade account.
